THIRD PERSON

Panting and labored breathing was all the confined space in the walls knew, and it wouldn't take long for the two Pokemon inside to register what had just happened.

"G-Grace, you..." Vince stammered and ignored the aching feeling in his arms to cup a webbed hand on the Sylveon's cheek.

"I know..." Grace chuckled lightly, wrapping one of her ribbon-like feelers around his wrist. "Never thought I'd evolve..."

The Greninja only let his body loose and slumped into the wall. "Congrats...and thank you...I'm guessing that's the only reason why we survived?"

"I couldn't have done it without you, either." Grace nodded in reassurance.

"Grace, Vince! Are you okay!?" A clearer Loki could be heard from somewhere in the space they were in. "I can see a small entryway here!"

"This is gonna be quite the explanation." Grace exhaled lightly while staring at her paws.

Recuperating after their separation wasn't easy, and everyone had to announce individual things that happened. When Vince and Grace returned—specifically through a narrow space that only opened because they held back a wall—all eyes were focused on Grace. Obviously, her evolution was something shocking to everyone, but they had an escape to find. They would have to stomach their words and continue regrouping.

Once Leon returned, he was a mess of tears. After he explained his situation the emotions became contagious, the realization that Sherwood had essentially sacrificed himself for the greater good settling in all too heavy. Once again, they unfortunately didn't have the time to mourn.

The last hurdle preventing them from continuing was now present.

"Where's Laker?" Rayne immediately uttered the moment she realized. "He was also separated, correct?"

"Yeah, except we didn't see his side of the wall move at all." Loki frowned and turned to the wall that had separated him. "He tried a similar move to Vince."

"Unfortunate...but we also cannot afford to stay." Leon heaved a long sigh. "The gas is soon to begin filling in this area."

"Sam said he could try for the exit himself, maybe he did that?" Zantai reasoned.

Rayne wasn't humoring the thought, though. She was still frowning in contemplation, her eyes glued to the ground. "I'm not sure where we'd find him. It's dangerous to split off, as we experienced."

"We can't guarantee which wall will move." Loki turned to stare at the Manectric with a soft look. "I promise you, we'll find him...but for now we have to avoid this poison gas."

"Right." Rayne nodded and continued forward, letting Sammy guide them.

Eventually, Sam would return to the intercom.

"C-Continue...and when you reach a turn make sure you take a right." Her voice was strained as if she had just finished coughing for a while. "Sammy, I'm sorry...after you take this turn you might be alone."

"Alone?" Sammy froze after she uttered those words to herself. "Sam? What the hell is going on over there?"

"I can't h-hear you...but you must—" Sam's voice trailed off before she entered a violent coughing fit. "From now on you have to follow a faint black mark trailing the walls, it will lead you to the exit."

An audible click was heard, signifying that the older Braixen had cut off her communication with the rest of the group. Everyone stared silently at Sammy, her composure clearly seconds away from breaking.

Unexpectedly, the younger vixen took a deep breath and marched forward. "Come on, we have an exit to find."

As instructed, when they reached the turn Sammy did not hesitate to shift her direction to the right, her stare as determined as ever.

No one bothered to ask any more questions, as they presumed the Braixen needed as much focus as possible. A deep pit in their hearts formed, but none of them knew it was unanimous. It was as if they were being watched.

"Come to think of it...where is Hydra?" Luster paused and turned to look at the group behind him.

"With Sam, probably." Zantai crossed his arms. "She's awake, so she probably took Hydra in."

"That can't be good." Loki heaved a long sigh. "I don't want to fight him again."

"I don't think any of us do. Without your stunt, we'd be dead." Rayne replied. "It's better he stays unconscious."

"That's not fair to him at all. It's not his fault Sam uses him like that." Loki folded her arms and turned to the Manectric with a frown. "He should have the chance to be saved."

"We should have the chance to be saved." Zantai quickly rebutted. "We shouldn't go killing ourselves trying to save someone who can probably take care of themselves."

"You heard Sam, she's most likely going to die here." Loki reasoned.

"Please do not say that." Sammy pleaded.

The Zoroark flinched at her words. For a minute there they all completely forgot they were traveling with Sam's sibling.

"I don't mean to be mean, Sammy, but with what we went through...you shouldn't be surprised that we dislike her." Grace turned to lock eye contact with the vixen.

"I dislike her too." Sammy quickly added. "But I was never one to handle death correctly...I know, ironic."

"An arrow." Vince called out before pointing his webbed hand forward.

After recalling Sam's instructions, the group followed wherever the black markers took them.

"Did Sam place these?" Grace inquired, her eyes still trailing the dark paint splattered across the steel. "If they're fading then that means they're old, no?"

"It could lead us to a trap...we have to be ready." Rayne ordered, leaving the question unanswered.

They still had the smallest ounce of faith in Sam, and whether it was misplaced or not would soon be found out. After they reached another fork in the path, Leon froze.

"I am detecting a new presence to the right of this path." The Lucario warned, his eyes turned to face the darkness ahead. Sammy's flames still lit up their path, but she still humored the jackal and pointed her staff toward the void.

"That's the wrong direction, fortunately." Sammy backed away and took a turn towards another paint-marked wall.

"Wait." Rayne growled lightly, causing the vixen to halt. "Could that be Laker? Maybe he got lost."

"That's a dangerous assumption." Luster remarked with a raised brow. "Leon's detected a lot of things on the way, are you sure that's Laker?"

"I-I don't know." Rayne bit her lip in worry.

"Make your choice." Sammy let out a stressed puff of air. "This next turn is familiar, it'll lead us directly to the main exit."

"Really?" Grace turned to the vixen with eyes of hope. "We can leave if we go there?"

"Rayne is still worried." Leon knew by reading the Manectric's aura that she was having mixed feelings about leaving without the Weavile. "Keep this in mind, Rayne, I did the same thing you are thinking about."

Everyone's minds immediately shifted to Sherwood. They recalled Leon rushing over while sobbing and announcing that Sherwood was most likely dead. It was all too quick to process, but they knew they didn't have much time to think about it. Now that they somewhat did, the pit in their stomach only grew.

Something was going to go wrong, but they hadn't quite figured out why they felt that way.

Suddenly, Rayne sprinted forward, leaving the main group with a determined look.

"Rayne..!" Leon threatened to chase after her but was stopped by a clawed talon.

"Let her." Zantai ordered. "What are you gonna do? Stop her? She's made her choice and we need to make ours."

"We'll wait for you at the elevator! Follow the markers!" Sammy cupped her paws forward in order to be heard.

"Elevator?" The Sylveon next to Sammy peered up with a curious gaze. "Is that how we're leaving?"

"I'm not surprised, since we're underground." Loki's head was still facing the dark abyss that Rayne had entered. "I hope she'll be safe."

"She's a strong girl." Vince chuckled lightly. "I don't think anyone's gonna fuck with her."

"Alright, everyone!" Sammy lined herself up with the center of the hallway they were in. "Hurry along, once we enter the elevator we will wait for Rayne until we detect the gas."

"And if Ranye doesn't show up?" Luster questioned.

"Then we have to leave...I would rather not risk the lives of all of us over that." The younger Braixen stated in a stern tone.

No one questioned her plan, so they continued to hurry along, trusting that Rayne would be fine.

Deeper into the layers of the cage was now a frantic Manectric rushing through corridors and turns. Part of her knew she was capable of memorizing the way back, but with how hasty she was being it would soon prove harder than expected.

Now all she could hear was her labored breathing. How far did she run? It's been a few minutes since she dispersed from the group. Will the walls start shifting into her?

Now was not the time to worry, she had a limited amount of time to look for Laker. Part of her wanted to run back and regroup with everyone...and the feeling was incredibly foreign to her. Was this the fear she could have never experienced if she didn't get her emotions back? She could have at least lived happily without this part of being normal.

Suddenly, the canine came to a skidded stop.

"Laker?" Her voice was now more gentle, a hint of worry audible.

Her eyes landed on a familiar silhouette of a Weavile, and it was staring at her from the darkness. She slowly approached, her muscles tense with caution.

"Laker, it's me...Rayne." She continued to speak to him, but there was no response.

If only she could see his face, to her all she could see was an empty void. However, Laker wasn't moving, so she was forced to inch her way toward him.

There was no response, but she still mustered up the courage to approach him. Luckily, there was nothing inherently wrong with Laker once she got close enough to see his face.

Laker did not speak to her, instead, he maintained a completely neutral face. It was as if he was devoid of emotion—but not soulless. It was a complicated expression to explain, but she still continued forward before stopping a few feet away from the weasel.

"Laker, are you alright?" Rayne worriedly questioned. "We have to go, I know the way out."

Again, no response. Instead, Laker made a complete one-eighty and began walking away from the canid—albeit at a rather leisurely pace.

"Where are you going?" The Manectric rushed to his side and tilted her head to try and read his face. "This is the wrong way, Laker. Are you sure you're okay?"

Silent as ever, Laker marched forward with a blank expression. In utter confusion, Rayne followed along, thinking there was something much more important to him right now.

Before she could complain to him again, Laker made a sharp left turn and turned to open what was a random door to the canid. Inside the two discovered a room filled with screens and machinery that they couldn't understand.

Rayne gaped once she entered, her eyes in awe at the sight of just how many things could be packed into one room. Though she couldn't understand their purpose, she pegged it to an incredibly important area.

Laker silently walked over to one side of the room and turned to the Manectric, his claw aimed toward a mechanism hooked into the wall. When Rayne approached, she could clearly read the label:

"Mingle containment chamber: 0"

Rayne hummed lightly in realization. "This must be the first ever Mingle created, right?"

Laker nodded, and it was the only sign of sentience he'd shown to her in the past few minutes.

Rayne's head craned to focus on the camera footage attached to the designated machine. Displayed on the screen was a brightly-lit pale-white room...with nothing inside. And yet, on the top right corner of the screen displayed a text stating that the 'creature' was contained.

"I don't see anything." The Manectric frowned, her eyes turning to Laker once again. "Did it escape?"

This time, the Weavile shook his head in denial. His claws were still pointed directly to the machine.

"I'm confused...if it's contained, then why can't I see it?" Rayne tilted her head.

Laker gave the canine an impatient look—once again the most emotion he showed in the past few minutes. His pointed claw was now readjusted to hover above a clipboard tossed on the floor.

Rayne sat on her haunches, carefully picking up the clipboard with her paws, and began reading the paper attached to it.

"Update log #216"

"I woke up this morning to find that the Mingle's energy has been decreasing at a rapid rate. If I do not find a suitable host in time then it will die. However, it's hard to predict what the Mingle will do once I provide it with a proper body. Will it deny the body and let itself die? Clearly, it has a mind of its own...so doing something too rash might get me killed once it escapes. If it escapes."

There is a section of the paper that was torn off, but regardless, Rayne continued reading what was left of it.

"When I looked into the monitor, I could have sworn that the Mingle had escaped containment. However, something even worse occurred when I checked the vitals presented in the machine; the Mingle was now completely invisible to the naked eye. I don't know how it managed to do it, but it almost tricked me into opening the cell and letting it free. I have to keep using its energy to try and make a proper body for it, otherwise letting this thing loose into the world could mean destruction."

"From what I could tell, the Mingle is just a sentient mist that can attach itself to a host like a parasite, but it can be deadly if attached to the wrong person. Because it uses the nostrils to seep into the brain, it can essentially take full control over anyone. If it ever attached to me, it would gain all of my intelligence and use it against me once it detached...if it even wanted to. I think my plan from now on is to create Mingle clones that it can hopefully find worthy enough to attach itself to."

"But those have been abominations...piles of sludge that utter weird things. I need a better host. I need to be creative."

"End of log."

Rayne turned to Laker once she finished reading, and much to her surprise he still maintained a neutral expression. However, his paw continued to point toward the machine behind him.

"Do you want me to...free the Mingle?" Rayne flinched at the sight of the Weavile nodding in affirmation. "That sounds incredibly dangerous, especially after reading the document in front of me."

Laker's lip twitched to form a half-frown, his body now turned to look for something on the other screens. With no words, he paced to the other side of the room and pointed his claw at a new monitor.

Much to Rayne's surprise, it was Hydra being displayed on this screen. He seemed completely lifeless; he was sprawled on his back with numerous vitals being displayed on a different screen. One of the vitals caught Rayne's eye, however, and she made sure to read it aloud for Laker.

"Host...none?" She uttered with concern. "But...that's weird. Hydra is his own person, right?"

A nod from the weasel.

"Then why does it state that a host is missing? Is that why he's unconscious?"

A nod.

"Is..." Rayne paused for a moment, a wave of realization whiplashing her. "Has the original Mingle been a host for Hydra before?"

Laker didn't seem to answer for a moment, instead, he raised his clawed paws forward to signal a gesture that indicated her answer was an in-between result.

She thought it through for a few seconds, deciding that it was better to ask questions that could be answered with 'yes' or 'no'.

"Are Hydra and the Mingle linked?"

A nod.

"Is...Hydra's personality the Mingle?"

A nod.

Rayne froze, her eyes glued to the screen displaying Hydra's unconscious body. "So you want me to free the Mingl—actually, what you want me to do is free Hydra?"

Another nod, this time more exaggerated as if she reached a wanted conclusion. It all made sense, especially considering everything Kanom was saying. Right now, Hydra is in an in between of life and death; he has no host. All Sam did was remove the host from Hydra in order to command him...

But that must mean that Hydra is the first Mingle.

Without hesitation, Rayne swiveled her body around to walk over to the machine displaying the original Mingle. She couldn't understand a drop of how the mechanism worked, but she could tell what a deactivation button looked like, so she slid her paw over it and gave it a firm press.

Turning to Laker for affirmation, the Weavile only turned on his heel to point at another screen—one designated for security rather than cells. It took Rayne walking up and squinting her eyes to realize what was on the footage.

"Laker..!" She said aloud, the screen displaying footage of Laker sluggishly trudging around a nearby hallway. "Hang on..."

Rayne immediately backed up upon realization, her body instantly taking a battle-ready stance. "Who the hell are you?"

'Laker' never changed, instead, he slowly pointed his paw towards the screen displaying Hydra's unconscious body.

"You're..." Rayne eased her shoulders a bit. "You're the Mingle."

Another nod.

"But then that must mean...you're...Hydra?"

This time, the Mingle's mimicked body had started to melt, and it was as if a faint blue mist could be seen exiting every limb of the fake body. It was a horrifying sight, but the Weavile had evaporated into a light mist-like energy that soon turned invisible.

Was it gone? Was it going to take over her? Right now, she was worried about the wrong things. Right now, she had to find Laker.

...

...

"Is everyone in?" Sammy's voice could be heard rushing everyone inside a large platform.

As promised, everyone made it to the aforementioned elevator, but now they had to wait for both Rayne and Laker to return.

"I'm giving them ten minutes. If they don't come back by then, I'm sorry..." Sammy turned to the group with a fearful frown. "...but I'll have to leave them."

"It sucks, but we have to." Vince backed up into the wall to slide down until he was sitting next to Grace.

"I-I don't want to leave them." Grace muttered to herself.

"I'm sure they'll make it." Loki turned to reassure the Sylveon. "Rayne should be aware of how much time she has left."

"Exactly." Zantai nodded. "The girl is too strong to die like that."

"Although it is frightening that I have yet to detect her presence." Leon frowned.

"Yeah, we're running out of time." Luster heaved a stressed sigh.

Everyone seemed to note that they'd be waiting for a bit, so they chose to get slightly more comfortable with their positions in the elevator. A few sat in the corner while the more anxious ones stayed standing—albeit it was just Luster and Sammy.

The two stood there waiting for any sign or noise that indicated Rayne was returning. Occasionally they would hear a faint hissing in the background, and it only raised the anxiety coursing through both of their veins.

Just as they hoped for, something caught the eye of both Leon and Luster exactly at the same time. Without any hesitation, Luster sprinted forward into the darkness. From where he stopped, he noticed Rayne trudging her way with a Weavile on her back, both of them coughing and hacking violently.

"Rayne!" Luster called out and positioned himself next to her so she could stand straighter. "Are you okay?"

"The gas..." Rayne weakly nudged into the feline next to her.

"Get on." Luster took the initiative and curled his body so the Manectric would easily slide onto his back. Now that he was carrying both Rayne and Laker by proxy, he strained forward as best as he could.

Impressively, Luster made it to the elevator without so much of a grunt before gently sliding them into the room. Panting, he stared at the group with a sense of completion. "How did you find him?"

"Complicated...but there was someone who told me a lot of things..." Rayne cleared her throat. She would soon learn that she had taken the clean air for granted her whole life. "They showed me where Laker and Hydra were...but I couldn't make it to Hydra."

"Where was he?" Zantai raised a brow.

"There's a hallway down there with a bunch of control chambers, and I unlocked his but had to look for Laker instead." Rayne shook her head. "I'm sorry."

Luster turned to Loki after hearing this, and her expression was exactly like he predicted...a frown.

"I'm sorry, Loki, but we have to leave him. I know it's hard, but we can't all die here." Sammy, who was now in tears, held the paw of the Zoroark to try and reason with her.

"I know, I know." Loki let out a shuddered breath. "I know it's hard, and it's better than all of us dying. Let's go."

After a nod, Sammy rose to hover her paw above the control panel in front of her. She did one last head count before freezing completely.

"I hope you all have a safe trip."

Much to her horror, Luster was on the other side of the room with a weak smile on his face.

"Luster, what the hell are you doing?" Vince rose to his feet to grimace at the feline. "Get in here or we'll die!"

"You guys are going without me, I've made up my mind." Luster backed away while facing the group in the elevator. "I'm not done here."

"What!?" Loki was the one to try and step forward this time but had to lean on Vince to keep herself stable. "B-But everything you did to get here, why are you just throwing it away? Don't you want to leave this place?"

Luster's weak smile persisted, and it was clear he was holding back emotions. "Loki, I lost everything waiting for me out there. I already told you my brother is dead...I have no one else in my life. I stayed to help you all escape. Every time I was emotional, frustrated, determined..."

The Luxray paused for a small moment, his gaze tearing to stare at his paws. "It was all for you guys...but I can't live with myself if it's with the guilt that I let my brother die."

"You didn't let him die." Grace marched forward and glared at the feline with a stern expression. "You were kidnapped, you couldn't help it!"

"Maybe I wasn't careful enough before I was kidnapped, or maybe I could have escaped faster. Or maybe...it doesn't even matter." Luster sniffled, his lips quivering as his body threatened to cry. Not a single ounce of him wanted to leave, and it was a complicated feeling. "Nothing matters to me after knowing he's gone."

"But we still care about you!" Grace yelled out mid weep. "These past few months, I can't erase all of that from my head, Luster! None of us can, you still mean something to us!"

Luster winced. He felt those words.

"Sammy, call the elevator. Who knows, maybe I'll see you on the other side. But for now, I'm looking for Hydra. It's the least I can do for Loki." Luster ordered before turning toward the other direction and trudging into the darkness.

Leon let out a small grunt of distaste at the Luxray's words. Hearing the phrase 'see you on the other side'  reminded the jackal of Sherwood, and it only added to the horrible pit in his stomach.

"Good luck out there, friend." Sammy took a deep breath and held firm eye contact with the feline.

"See you soon." Luster smiled weakly.

It was all too sudden, but Sammy wasn't going to take any more chances. The second she pressed the button on the control panel the walls in front of them slid shut. After the room went dark, a loud hiss could be heard from above them.

"We're being detoxed just in case there's any poison gas in this area." Sammy clarified before exhaling profoundly.

"Damn it, Luster...why?" Zantai grumbled and clamped his talons shut against the elevator railings. "He was right there...why the fuck would he do something so stupid?"

"It's as he said...he has nothing left now." Loki was now calm and seemed to have some sort of acceptance. "He's looking for Hydra, and I sure hope he finds him...because he's dead otherwise."

They were in for a long ride, and Sammy felt as if she didn't have to tell them. Only now could they mourn in silence. Only now could they process every death and casualty that occurred.

Only now could they think.

...

...

...

"That's it...that's all..." A Braixen stated while her eyes were glued to a bright screen in front of her.

Sam watched the elevator's main power system activate, signifying that the group had made it to the exit.

Part of her wanted to cry, and the other half wanted to be angry. What happened was a mixture, a small sob with a hint of slamming her paw against the table in distress. She turned to look at the state of her office. It was a complete mess; papers were scattered around, machines were torn, and even important research documents were torn.

She knew she had lost it all, but was this necessarily a bad thing?

"Why did I do this?" Sam thought aloud for a moment, her eyes suddenly dizzy from the small amounts of poison gas occasionally seeping into the room. She turned to a gas mask hanging on the wall. She did not take it.

"Why did you do this?" A small voice called out to her, causing the older Braixen to jerk around and fall onto her back.

Sam let out a shriek upon witnessing the sight. In front of her was Talus, and he looked exactly as she left him; a dry bloody mess. She backed away into the corner, her face shocked to even see him alive.

"I-I thought Sammy killed you!" Sam exclaimed.

"You did this." The midday Lycanroc shuddered, leaning closer to the Braixen's face. It was a disgusting sight, only now could Sam notice just how torn up the poor canine's face was. 

"Why did you do this to us? Why did you do this to everyone? You told me you could help me get my parents back." Talus continued to press further, and in turn, it caused Sam to let out a blood-curdling scream before leaping out of the corner and running out of her office.

The vixen stumbled around the halls before she stopped in her tracks upon witnessing another silhouette form in front of her.

"I wouldn't have done this if it weren't for you." A midnight Lycanroc stood in front of her, and she could barely recognize it was Lancer. His claws were coated with fresh, dripping blood. His pupils shrunk every time they made eye contact. "I should have just killed you when you asked me that question."

Sam knew she was officially going crazy, but there was nothing she could do to stop it. She had to live through all the horror like a harsh return of karma.

"Stop! You all did this to yourselves! Every one of you did exactly as expected, you're all predisposed to this fate and you only proved me right!" Sam hissed and continued running forward—still evading Lancer to the best of her abilities.

Sam made it to her security camera room before slamming the door shut behind her. Her body let her know with a coughing fit that even a small whiff of that poison affected her.

"Hey!" A powerful yet feminine voice called out to her.

Suddenly, the room was as bright as ever before a flame-like silhouette formed in the center of the room.

"This is all your fuckin' fault, bitch!" An Infernape was insulting her, and she could easily tell it was Inu. "You see this?"

Inu turned to motion towards her bloodied back. The sight was grotesque, and for a minute there Sam was able to see small parts of the ape's bones with how torn it was.

"You can reason with yourself as much as you'd like, but you'll still be the pathetic monster everyone's ever known you for." Inu grinned at her. It was a grin that held a sense of pride, even confidence.

"Shut up!" Sam roared. "Shut up, shut up! You all wanted to sacrifice someone else for what you wanted! Don't you think you deserved what happened to you? I planned to use your lives for exactly who you wanted me to revive!"

"Well? Where's that right now, then?" The Infernape cackled. "Don't make me laugh, who are you to talk about morals?"

Not wanting to hear any more of this, Sam swung the door open and took off into the hallway once again. Before she could even make it past the corner, her entire peripheral was overwhelmed by a terrifying manic face.

"Boo!"

Sam landed on her rear, her eyes staring up with horror at the Absol above her. It was Aubra. "Daww, did I scare you~? Don't worry, I'll make sure to be extra nice when I come for you in the afterlife."

"You deserved it...I have no regrets experimenting on you." Sam hissed.

"Oh, by no means am I going to plead and cry for your sympathy." Aubra held a paw up to her mouth to stifle a giggle. "But I just happen to find it funny how similar you are to me!"

"What?"

"Well, for starters, you're so obsessed about the past! You do realize I only killed my exes because I love the idea of the past, right? There's something about that memory that clings to you...it almost sounds better than the actual thing! To me, I remember all of my victims, but that's merely because I enjoy the memory of them a lot more than when I was with them." Aubra playfully tapped her claw against the ground. "You think anyone will forget what happened here? Of course not, you caused one of the greatest despairs in Pokemon history."

"I'm not obsessed with the past like you, I just wanted to harness a power you had no clue how to comprehend!" Sam growled and managed to get back up on her feet.

"Nonsense! Your greatest motivation is Hydra...you know, ever since he died, you've wanted to—"

"Shut up!" The Braixen snarled and ran around the corner to avoid the Absol.

Once again, she was running away from her problems...but once again they would soon catch up with her. Not knowing where else to go, Sam entered a small closet full of sanitary equipment. Silently staring at her on the other end of the room was an Umbreon.

Since Vanta didn't look too aggressive, Sam closed the door behind her and sat up against the wall.

"You can only run for so long." Vanta's baritone voice rumbled the walls so well that Sam could barely tell it was her imagination. "It will all catch up to you."

"Why...why am I seeing you all right now?" Sam curled her body up into a fetal position before she continued weeping. "Why..?"

"I've always believed that everyone gets to suffer exactly what they put someone else through." Vanta looked away toward nowhere in particular. "It's not nearly the same, but I died before I could remember that Grace was my sister. You're going to die here without getting to say goodbye to both Sammy and Hydra."

"That's..."

"Not fair?" Vanta chuckled lightly and locked eye contact with her. He was suddenly a lot closer than she had realized, and the Umbreon emanated a sense of pressure that induced a pit in her stomach. "It's only fair you get to experience that, considering what you've done."

As predicted, Sam instantly whipped around and swung the door open to continue running. She went uninterrupted for a while before the Braixen realized there was another pair of footsteps directly next to her.

"Are you lost?" A Gallade was keeping up with her pace, a wide grin tugging at his lips. "I can help you!"

"No! Get away!" Sam spat out.

"You shouldn't push away the only guy who ever wanted to follow along with your true plan! Or do you want me to act like the Galant you knew?" Galant stopped the moment Sam did, and he dropped to his knees in a sudden fit of sadness. "P-Please, Sam, let us go! We didn't deserve any of this!"

"Why are you doing this?" The Braixen cried out.

"You should ask yourself why you kidnapped me first. Everyone else you had Laker do your dirty work, but you chose me first...and you did it yourself! Is it because you knew my father was dying? Was it because you knew I'd pay anything in the world to have him revived?"

Sam didn't bother answering. Instead, she flailed around until she was back to running away. Running was all she could do...but it was as Vanta warned her; eventually, things would catch up to her.

A dead end...somewhat. The hallway stopped here, but there was at least a closed door to try. She almost didn't notice a Sceptile standing next to the doorway, his eyes concentrating on her.

"S-Sherwood, you're...dead?" Sam stammered.

"Yeah, your good 'ol assistant Kanom got me trapped in a room with the poison gas on. You should give him a raise...in the afterlife." He shrugged lightly.

"What?"

"An eye for an eye, you ever heard of that?" Sherwood leaned forward. "You should find his body somewhere close to mine...I made sure he'd bleed to death."

"Kanom's dead..." The Braixen whispered under her breath in shock.

"Don't be surprised." The Sceptile chuckled lightly and curled his talons around the door handle. "It'll happen to you too."

Sherwood pulled the door open to reveal the other side.

A Luxray slowly made his way through the doorway with a disgusted grimace.

"You too?" Sam murmured.

"Heard you talking to yourself from afar..." Luster snarled and lunged forward.

Unlike the rest of her hallucinations, this once forcefully tackled her to the ground.

"You're probably seeing things, but I can assure you...I'm real..." Luster growled and narrowed his eyes at the vixen. "...so you're gonna tell me everything."